Question of the Day: What Historic Firearm Would You Most Like to Own?

For this video, Kirsten Joy Weiss has moved from performance shooting (a.k.a., trick shots) into firearms-oriented edutainment. And a fine thing it is too. But while I heart the FN BAR (FN-D light machine gun) it’s not the piece that flicks my Bic. I would dearly love to own a Civil War-era Henry Repeating Rifle, “that damned Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!” The lever gun the Sioux and Cheyenne used against General Custer when he mistook last man standing for last stand. Yes, well, a particular nice/historic example runs $155k. Price no object, what blast from the past would you want to stash and, I hope, shoot? And why that particular piece?

I can’t currently afford it either, but $595/$695 for a M1 through the CMP is not too bad. This link shows their current options and describes the quality: (edit, link didn’t work. closed in comments maybe? search for “CMP rifle sales” and you’ll find it).

The Special Grade category is a ‘brand new’ M1 Garand and is absolutely beautiful. This one is my regular shooter, instead of my WW2 and post-war rifles.

The turn around times are pushing a month now for ‘luck-of-the-draw’ Service Grades, Field Grades and Special Grades.

Customer service from the CMP is excellent – They sent me TWO replacement extractor spring/plungers when one was broken in my ‘new’ Service Grade I recently received. They had it in my mailbox in a week.

Seriously, save. Scrimp every penny. Eat nothing but hotdogs and Mac n cheese for a few months. I did. So worth it. At CMP prices, you’ll never get such a great deal on full power battle rifle with a boatload of history attached to it. They aren’t making any more.

I would love to have a mag 58 or a 240 Bravo either oneRambo 1 he’s using the m60 machine gun the later movies I believe he’s using the m62 version with forward pistol grip shortened barrel and shortened gas system both 7.62 NATO 30 caliber belt fed machine

That would be my second choice. The one carried by Lewis and Clark is, I argue, the single most important gun in the history of the United States.

The use of that air rifle, with adroit showmanship on the part of Lewis and Clark, was what enabled them to waltz right through some very ferociously defended Indian territories, especially as they got into Montana.

I’d want the one 16 gauge Parker Bros. Invincible shotgun that was made. I’d want that one gun because the Invincibles (two 12’s and one 16) were the absolute finest of American craftsmanship in gun making in our nation’s entire history. No European gun maker can sniff at an Invincible and say “Yes, but we Europeans have done better.”

In the collecting marketplace, rarity is what drives value. A one-of-a-kind gun, like Goering’s Luger or the Invincible 16ga, go up in value every year faster than most people can expect out of the stock market because money chases rarity. I’ve already got a bunch of guns, there’s only so many hours in a day to shoot, and buying $2 mil of cheap[er] guns means I need to buy $100K of safe space to store them all.

For all those reasons, when posed with a question like the above, I go for rarity and valuation.

For most other guns I’d like to own, remember, I’m in a situation unlike many other people. If I want a gun that merely functions and is is “neat to own,” I can buy one of the worst examples of a specific type and fix it. Even non-functional guns are candidates to me, and therefore are relatively cheap. A fixed clapped-out gun might even be worth more when I get done with it than when I bought it.

But since working on guns is my business, I’d like to own something that has no excuses and needs no attention from me. And because I’m an American, I want it to be an American gun. Hence the Parkers.

Well, being that the cool pulse rifle/grenade launcher seen in “Aliens” doesn’t exist, and those cool GE electric mini-guns that are usually mounted on helicopters are a bit bulky and tough to carry, I’d have to go with the “Chicago typewriter” — a Thompson submachine gun. The ergonomics put it in a class by itself.

I actually had one of those in my possession for a couple of weeks–stamped 1914 I think, holster with stock marked 1916 (no drum mags tho). Bought for the aforementioned father-in-law, it was eventually auctioned off too. Shoulda kept it for myself.

Gavrilo Princip’s Belgian-made 9×17mm (.380 ACP) Fabrique Nationale model 1910 semi-automatic pistol. The history, the misery, the earth shattering alterations to the world brought about by that one pistol and 2 shots. To hold and just touch something of such great significance would be amazing. Of course I’d also like my own Gutenberg bible for the same reason.

I used to watch Saving Private Ryan almost every night when I was younger, could say that started my path in the ways of the gun. I would love a 1903A4 like Barry Pepper had in the movie. Heck, I’d need a side arm too so why not a M1911A1 to boot?

Ehh… there’s just so many that I’d love to own that it’s honestly hard to chose. And beyond that I don’t know if I really want a ‘historic’ firearm as I’d be too tempted to shoot it. Generally you don’t want to shoot a collectors item like that too often.

However I’m willing to give you two firearms that I’d like to own. Both with the caveat that I don’t have to worry about the laws attached to it. First… the Lahti L-39 20mm. And not just the WWWOOOOO!! factor of running something as amazing as a 20mm. But the story of the winter war has always fascinated me.

But if I’m stuck with something that I can actually afford to feed I’m going a DP-28 machine gun. Or some varmint there of. For that one it’s the WWWOOOOO!! fact too, but combined with my own strong affinity for Russian hardware. The fact that 7.62x54r is cheap and plentiful makes this areal winner in my book.

For collecting purposes it would be a 1919 (Production) Thompson (which had no provision for buttstock or sights). For a shooter I would want an early 1921 Thompson (Pre-Cutts Compensator). The workmanship was superb on those weapons.

I would like to own the 1906 Luger rifle. Not a P-08 with a stock but the 8mm Mauser chambered Luger rifle. The lines of that weapon just stir something deep within me. And the toggle action is nothing short of magical. Add in a full power round to the equation and a love affair is born. For an example of what I am talking about google 1906 Luger Rifle and check out Forgotten Weapons blurb about this fine piece of machinery.

Get one from the CMP before they run out! Supplies have been dwindling and prices rising more and more quickly. I expect the prices to skyrocket once the CMP runs out. I got my field grade from the South Store in May and prices have already risen by $75.

1939 Luger. I had a chance to buy one, but was short about $1000 in my account. The gentleman wanted $2700, but when I couldn’t acquire the funds, he listed it on Gunbroker, it fetched $5400, I believe. Worn finish, but no scratches. Came with 2 spare mags, and original leather holster and belt. The action on that thing was like glass on glass. It’s a pity that guns aren’t made with as much love and attention to detail as they once were.

Second choice, a Mateba auto-revolver. Yes, a semi-auto revolver. I wanted one ever since I saw it used in “Ghost in the Shell”. The lowest price I have seen on one is around $4000. A novelty, but fascinating none the less. It came in .357 and .44.

For a rifle, I would love to get my hands on a Stoner ’63. Long stroke piston rifle designed by none other than Mr. Eugene Stoner. 1 rifle, many configurations. If you have a few minutes, look it up.

A true, bespoke Griffin & Howe bolt action from the glory-days, between the wars, of the safari rifle, in a classic cartridge, maybe 300 H&H or 375 H&H, with wood and metal so lustrous you can see your soul in the reflection.

An original Pennsylvania flintlock made sometime in mid-18th Century. Lean and lovely.

Or a PPSH-41. Because why not (maybe too many Stalingrad movies?). Could match up cartridges with my Tokarevs.

My question is, what gun is she holding in the intro that had the wood stock and the stainless barrel? Is that some sort of Anschutz? It looks like the barrel is longer than a typical example, but I can’t tell if that’s the result of a wide angle lens rather than actual length.

If I had enough monies tier: FA M16A1
If I had a time machine tier: FN FAL….. in .280 British.
If I had an *American* time machine tier: T48 in 7.62 (No, it isn’t quite a FAL.)
If I had a time machine that slots floppies: Rhodesian para FAL in that beautiful, ugly baby-poop camo.

Bren gun. Probably be the best light machine gun of WWII. But what I really, really want is a 24 pounder long gun, pivot mounted as a “long Tom” on the deck of a authentic Revolutionary War privateer top-sail schooner.

Don’t be sad. It’s great to have achievable goals – and I personally find my Mosin a “blast” to shoot. It’s nothing special, a 43 Izhevsk with a mediocre barrel, got it for $130 from a friend. Everything else people are listing is cool and all but I’ll never be able to own 99% of it.

My achievable goal:
I’d like to collect WWII-era rifles all around. They are still moderately affordable and available. M1 Garand, K31 Swiss, 98 Mauser, Enfield, maybe Yugo Mauser and a Finnish Mosin… it would just be an interesting and historically-significant collection from the greatest conflict of modern times.